Let's Say It's a Blog: The Invasion Trilogy

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January 10, 2016

Weekend Rec: The Invasion Trilogy by Jessica Frances

Posted on 5:26 PM by Cynthia D with No comments

Just like its name, Let's Say It's a... Book Rec! is a feature where I recommend book for your weekend read!

Here comes weekend again!

I was quite busy this week, tmth yet so little time to do it. I even had to give up posting two posts of my supposedly new blog features 'cause I really didn't get enough time to write (or type) it down... *sigh* But it's okay, I'm going to rearrange my blog posting schedule so it won't overlap my personal schedule. Anyway, for this weekend I'm going to recommend one of my favorite series from sci-fi genre. The plot is epic and I super love the thrill and all the feels I got from following this trilogy! It is just too bad that not many people knows about this trilogy because I'm sure that those who read this would definitely be in love with them. Well, what trilogy is that?

THE INVASION TRILOGY by Jessica Frances

#1 EARTH

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"The world as we know it is ending."

(Chapter II, Earth)

The first book already made a total mess with my mind! All the feels that I got from reading this were just... epic! The thrill, the suffocating feel, the crying, the tension, the heartbreak, the romance, THE CLIFFHANGER. God, I remembered internally screaming at the top of my lungs once I read the last page because there was no way in hell I could sleep after everything that happened in that first book.

Synopsis

Earth is being invaded. There was no warning and no time to stage any kind of defence. Instead countries started to go silent. They were no longer reachable and no one knew what was happening. So when Canada went dark; everyone knew America would be next.

My name is Matilda, but everyone calls me Mattie. I was at college in Oregon when the attack began. By the time Canada went quiet, we’d had enough. So two of my friends and I decided to join the fight in Vancouver and find out what was really happening. That is when everything changed. What we found was death, destruction and machines that were slaughtering humans. There would be no escape for us; no place to go where the machines couldn't reach us. I had no future, but then I met him.

My name is Marduke and I’m part of the reason Earth is being invaded. I’m from a different planet and even though I look human, I’m not. But when Earth was invaded, I began running from my family and running for my life. Then she saved me. She made me feel something I’d never felt before. She saved my life and opened my heart to the possibility of love, she changed me forever.

What are the chances of finding your true love right when the world is ending? What kind of cruel fate places them together under those circumstances? What is she supposed to do when he tells her he is not from Earth? When she finds out that he is one of the invaders?

What does she do when she finds out everything she thought she knew was wrong?

What does he do when he has to make a choice between protecting her and saving himself?

How can they overcome everything standing in their way?

Me saying...

"...I finished the rest 90% in one sitting because apparently after the invasion kicked in, I just COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! Seriously. Ms. Frances brought up the invasion as the main topic and she did it awesomely because it’s just so well-built, the invasion, background story of the Oden. They’re all so well-thought. Even me as a romance-sucker ―who’s basically been focusing only on romance side in just every book, this time also felt intrigued by the non-romance part as much as the romance ones."

Book Review: Oden (The Invasion Trilogy, #3) by Jessica Frances

Posted on 11:58 AM by Cynthia D with 2 comments

Oden by Jessica Frances

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*I received a digital copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Get a copy here!
AMAZON |

This is me, on the last page of Oden, being torn between doing this…

and this…

So I settled with this one,

I got emotional a lot reading Oden, both because the story just got way more intense here and because of the fact that I was so close to the conclusion of The Invasion Trilogy. I said it before that I wished this series was a tetralogy instead of trilogy so I could have more chance to see my favorite couple fighting for their love. As much as I loved seeing them having bunches of beautiful, happy moments peacefully, I just fell in love with the way they fought their way through a lot of awful times relentlessly without ever backing down for once only to prove that their love always remained undamaged in the end.

I lost count of how many times I cried only to feel it dried itself and flowed again minutes later. In this book three, Ms. Frances ‘played’ in a whole deeper level of intensity of every aspect: drama, action, romance, and thrill. There were far worse danger, torture, loss, physical fight, mental breakdown, and internal issue happened to each characters. Mattie and Marduke received the worst test among the others. Even their arguments which never became a real further issue between them, it slowly shaped into trust issue this time.

After we were brought into a chaos situation while on Earth, then to a strange planet Roth filled with monsters combined with fire attack, it was Oden where the final adventure took place. Oden, as Marduke’s home-planet, were in no different state than the other planet under their possession. War happened endlessly, death could be seen just everywhere. Both humans and aliens were fighting for their life against the seemingly merciless evil power.

While both Earth and Roth were about survival, Oden was about fighting to the very last drop of blood to get every stolen thing back. I was so damn speechless at Mattie’s braveness. She’s the most kick-ass heroine I’ve ever found in a book. Her heroism was unquestionable. She was hurt mentally and physically worse than any other character, over and over, yet still managed to overlook her own wounds to try her best helping the others. My heart broke for her and Marduke thousand times. Saying they both were so strong was understatement.

If in Roth Marduke seemed to start picking a side of where he stood between Mattie and his people, he later confirmed his decision firmly here. Not only he ‘touched’ me by always putting Mattie as his top priority, but he also didn’t hesitate to fight Ival on Mattie’s behalf ―which he almost never did before. It made me so glad knowing in the end there was nothing Marduke feared anymore, not his brother, not even the baggage of keeping family’s trait looking down to human race. He even surprised me by ―not once, but many times of― confronting Ival about him and the rest of their people having no emotional feeling.

“Humans are too emotional. We aren’t like them, Marduke. Whatever… you’re feeling for the human, it’s not normal.”

“Just because we’ve been taught not to feel love our whole lives, doesn’t mean we’re not capable of it.”

(Chapter V, Oden)

It was so funny sometimes how sarcastic Ival to Marduke and Mattie. It cracked me a lot how Ival pointed out Mattie and Marduke’s relationship…

“You two are repulsive. You,” he points his finger at Mattie, “don’t speak to someone of Marduke’s… standing like that. And you,” now his attention changes to me, “should demand more respect. Why you… love a woman who treats you like garbage is beyond me.”

(Chapter II, Oden)

Lololol! Someone sounds bitter!

Marduke slowly showed a great understanding about human’s feeling by paying attention closely to Mattie’s behavior. It was a really huge step and very important progress in Marduke’s change of state from apathetic alien to alien with feelings like human. Oh God, I just loved loved loved this couple so damn much!

“You’re too forgiving. Why don’t you hate me?” I whisper, afraid to voice my question any louder in case it jolts something inside her and she realises she does hate me. I would deserve that, but I couldn’t live with it.

“Because I love you and I know you are kind and brave. You’re a good man, no matter your species or what your family is like.”

“I don’t deserve you,” I admit, knowing that is true more than ever.

“Well, too bad because you’re stuck with me.” She smiles and then leans in to kiss me.

(Marduke; Chapter II, Oden)

*meltingmeltingmeltingmelting*

That was one of many reasons Ms. Frances became my favorite author. She paid attention to everything on her books. Like… every single thing. She didn’t just focus on building the story plot, she concentrated on advancements in every aspect as well, such as the changes within the characters. She took progressive approach and slowly built them up to rational conclusions.

And HOLY GOD the ending!!!!

I loved it I loved it I LOVED IT!

Ms. Frances opted for a slow building-up ending. It was a happy one, don’t worry, but she led us around the phase of acceptance first before getting us there. It was such a painful moment trying to move on, accepting every loss, accepting the fact that so many happiness had been taken away forcefully, but in the end they realized that to win was not not losing any during the war but losing everything yet still working out a good life afterward.

‘My future with Mattie looks bright, and that is more than I could ever ask for. Everything is going to work out for us. As long as we have each other, we can face anything and survive it.’

(Marduke; Chapter XVII, Oden)

It felt bittersweet to close the last page of Oden. The Invasion Trilogy is the best fantasy trilogy I’ve ever read my whole life. This one is perfection. Every scene is vivid picture in my mind until now. I personally think everything in Earth, Roth, and Oden are materials worth to be made into movies because just by reading them I could feel such real feeling of suspenseful, scared, grief, and so on. Imagine what it’d feel like seeing them as moving-images. Jessica Frances might be a new author for me but she quickly becomes my best favorite author. I wish to read more sci-fi books from her in the future…

Ahh… how to end this without igniting melancholic situation? LOL!

Read this trilogy, people! Trust me: you don’t want to skip this trilogy. I’m serious, really. I’m not going to say anything anymore.

Just read the book ~~and you can thank me later~~.

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

Book Review: Roth (The Invasion Trilogy, #2) by Jessica Frances

Posted on 12:12 PM by Cynthia D with 2 comments

Roth by Jessica Frances

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*I received a digital copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Get a copy here!

AMAZON |

Read also: Review of EARTH (The Invasion Trilogy #1)!

“I want to go home, Marduke. I want to go to Earth. Can you promise me that?”

(Mattie; Chapter V, Roth)

FANTASTIC!!!

I’m always excited and anxious for every sequel whose first books I enjoyed a bit too much. Excited for what kind of exhilaration the 2nd book would bring. Anxious to find out whether the 2nd book would give me the same feeling I had while reading the first one.

Today, I proudly confirmed that Roth has gracefully topped ALL my expectation as the second book of Invasion Trilogy!

GOD! I had a great time with the first book. Earth had successfully taken me into a mind-blowing roller-coaster ride and in the end it left me speechless and craving for more. But ROTH, people, ROTH is marvelous! It’s amazing! It’s everything I’ve never read! It… blew my mind! Every part of it!

Just like the first book, Roth was told in alternating POV of Mattie and Marduke. In this book, the story was placed on Roth ―the planet under Oden’s possession― where Mattie was sent to after the chaos happened back on Earth as the arrival of Ival, Marduke’s evil brother. Ms. Frances once again proved her astounding ability to ‘live out’ her imagination into a very vivid and graphic story. It felt almost real! It’s like watching a movie, a real action and fantasy movie blended into one where the scenes were ready to jump out of the screen any minute! She’d succeeded in making me amaze with the invasion on Earth. Now, I was again mesmerized of everything she brought out in this book. Seriously this book made me wants to fly all the way to Aussie to knock on Ms. Frances’ front door and ask,

“How did you come up with all of these things?” or maybe something like,

“How could you even do that without twisting the cells of your brain in the process?”

Not only she successfully visualized what was Roth like (from the two suns until the unnatural green forest), but she also threw in new mysterious creatures aside of the alien to the story (something with claws and uncontrollably wild with black gushes oozing from its wound and ―okay I’m sorry I’ll stop here). And as usual, she did it very well. It was very graphic and easily let out scary vibes to the readers.

This book had a lot of twist and I totally admitted I could not even guess a single thing out of every scene on the book. It’s totally unpredictable I felt like don’t even want to blink my eyes in case I missed something in those milliseconds!

Roth is a perfect combination of thrilling action, mind-blowing discoveries, lots of drama, and heart-ripping romance wrapped up in an epic never-ending battle. Here, Mattie and Marduke once again reminded me of why I fell in love with this couple on the first place.

‘I love that she confuses me. I love that she is willing to argue for what she believes in, and that she cares for her people. Every touch, every kiss, and every word she ever spoke to me feels important. Humans speak of love and soul mates. We might not have such a thing on Oden, but I fully believe that Mattie is my other half.’

(Marduke; Chapter II, Roth)

I loved how strong and determined Mattie while Marduke was so understanding yet still held a high respect for his family back in Oden. In Roth, they still appeared with the same strong characters but at the same time I could sense some changes in them as they were put in a whole new circumstance that might tie or break them. Yes, they still argued a lot here but somehow I sensed that they acted more mature and less difficult than before.

God, I loved it so much that even when they argued, they still cared for each other deeply. Both of them were willing to put their ego aside to listen to each other’s demands. Both of them were willing to put themselves on each other’s shoes in order to feel what they truly felt. Both of them were more open with their feelings and never even hesitated to sacrifice their lives for each other. When it’s common for people to break down and break apart when put in their hardest situation, Mattie and Marduke proved the old saying that “love will conquer all”. Their love grew even stronger and never wavered even in the middle of worst pandemonium ever happened in the whole universe.

‘Even when she’s not with me, she’s managing to save me.’

(Marduke; Chapter XIX, Roth)

This book also touched more issue about the comparison of family life between humans and aliens. I liked it when Marduke intended to watch carefully of how Mattie felt about her family. How alien, like Marduke, was described indifferent towards their family but not because they’re heartless, more like because they didn’t understand emotional feeling. This was described very well that the readers could definitely see their differences by knowing every detail. Ms. Frances actually dealt with more details like this to give a clear picture of the life outside the Earth. And she succeeded in all of that.

Ms. Frances’ writing style is so unique! I loooove it when she sometimes put such ‘teasing sentences’ in the end of chapter. It’s like a page-turner button for me, actually. And oh! even if this book contained a lot more actions with lots of awful situation, Ms. Frances started to do something fresh here. When I thought that I would certainly cried or most likely being tensed all the time while reading the book, she managed to slip some jokes and silly or sarcastic thoughts in the mid of serious situations making me actually crack ―loudly at that― several times. It helped lighten up the tension a bit. My only complaint, though, a lot of villains made appearance here, made me kind of hopeless sometimes. But good news, there will be a lot of unexpected turn of events that would make you believe there’s still hope somewhere out there. Sadly, Lisa and Hanks story hasn’t make any progress here, so I’m expecting a lot in the last installment!

With 208 pages, Roth succeeded in giving me a mind-boggling experience that I’m sure will stay in my mind for a very long time. In fact, I kind of wish this is a part of tetralogy instead of trilogy… but, it’s not so yeah… *crying inside*

‘This is not a war I plan on losing. We will win.’

(Marduke; Chapter XIX, Roth)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

Book Review: Earth (The Invasion Trilogy, #1) by Jessica Frances

Posted on 9:35 AM by Cynthia D with 2 comments

Earth (The Invasion Trilogy #1 by Jessica Frances

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*I received a digital copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review*

Get a copy here!
AMAZON |

Read also: Review of Roth (The Invasion Trilogy #2)!

This book messed with my mind BIG time.

The topic of earth invasion is not unfamiliar for me. I watched a lot of movies about that and even though most of them were pretty vivid and impressive, I admit that I only saw them no more than as entertainment. Never once I thought further about the issue beyond what the movie offered. But this book, though… this book made me thinks about a lot of thing. I mean, I still don’t believe in an existence of alien or them invading the Earth. But the vibes of doom Ms. Frances delivered here were quite strong. I found myself looking at my surrounding, at the daily activities rolling around every day, at the oblivious people. Then my mind wandered what if this very thing happened and none of us were prepared, no goodbyes ever being said. What if I or maybe one of you will become Mattie or Lisa or Hanks, what will you do? What will I do? Really, this book brought up such a real and epic issue!

The world as we know it is ending.

(Mattie; Chapter II, Earth)

When the first attack happened, Mattie was in her dorm room at the University of Oregon. Away from her family in Australia. Away from the comfort of home. The news on TV was hectic showing that her hometown was among the first country to go black because of the invasion by some unknown enemy. Her roommate, Lisa, went hysterical while Mattie herself seemed could not wrap her mind around this entire nightmare. No further information other than blackouts happened all around the world just like the movement of constant wave sweeping the surface of the ocean. No one could give them assurance of whether their families in the other side of the world were okay or not. No clue. No nothing.

When the first attack happened, Marduke was in his apartment fighting for his life from his brother’s sharp knife. Even as the part of the invader, Marduke was surprised by the earthquake caused by their people’s attack. The invasion was not supposed to kick in until months later as far as he knew. Being assigned to investigate the Earth pre-invasion, Marduke found a lot of surprising facts about the planet. Raised in Oden, he heard a lot about Earth having the most selfish habitant in the whole galaxy. Humans were all ignorant and were not able to take care of the Earth the way it was supposed to be taken care of. But it was not what he saw here. In Oregon, where he landed for example, he witnessed himself that not entire human beings were selfish and ignorant. Marduke had seen smiles, laughs, kindness, and love for several months. Realizing this newfound fact and the awful chaos they would probably cause, Marduke determined to assure his father and the rest of invader team to cancel the invasion. Only now it seemed that he was way too late for that.

When the invasion finally covered every surface in the world, from separate places, Mattie and Marduke were both on their way to Canada. Marduke was on his escapade from her brother. Mattie together with her best friends, Lisa and Hanks, were on mission to find out the truth about the invasion as the part of emergency volunteer. Barely armed, they finally arrived in Canada only to find out that the country had become even worse than the States they left behind. That’s when their path came across. Mattie and her friends helped Marduke who was left unconscious and badly bruised after his heroic act. From there they began their survival trip back to the States together. Marduke saw how the three of them were the exact proof that not all humans were evil. Only Marduke felt heavier on every step he took knowing that none of them knew his real identity. He could not imagine how these people would look at him when he told them the truth, especially Mattie.

During the days he’d spent with her, Marduke could not help the attraction he felt toward her. How sincere she’d been to him, saving his life, help him with the scar, letting him be the part of the team. Little did he know that Mattie felt the same way. Would it even possible for love to grown in the middle of chaos? Between two very different creatures? Both of them knew the answer was yes but the most important issue was what kind of future would they face later? Or was that even a ‘future’ coming at all?

Okay, before I continue diving deeper into the invasion topic, I’d like to talk about the general points first.

The plot. I actually thought that this book lacked of the background story of main character Mattie. Well, yes I read the blurb saying this book was about earth invasion and all but I did not expect to meet with that kind of invasion. I was hoping that maybe the story could use some prologue or just a warming opening about the life (or maybe the school life) Mattie had before dealing with the invasion. It felt like I just read the peaceful scene of a girl jogging in the park when suddenly I was already in the mid of chaotic Canada with a group of mix humans and alien; leaving me gasping for air yelling, ‘Wait a sec, what the…? Why am I here, people??’ It was as if the author could not wait any longer to pour the scenes of invasion on the next chapters. And well, she should be I guess, because it was seriously… whoa!

The POV here was alternate which I loved! Ms. Frances did a great job writing Marduke’s POV as a foreign creature. It was natural I guess even though I myself seriously had no idea what was ‘natural’ for alien but I did not feel weird about that so I guess it was okay. And more, even if Marduke finally felt attraction for a human girl, but the author didn’t just blindly describing him to continue acting like human. There’s this scene where Marduke was for a second, thought of letting the invasion happened if given the full-right just for the sake of his family’s honor.

“You know caring about someone isn’t a weakness?”

(Mattie; Chapter XIX, Earth)

I easily liked the character Mattie. She’s independent, determined, strong, and brave. Together with Marduke, they made a unique couple. Marduke was so kind, patient, and full of understanding toward her. They were not that kind of mushy couple but more like a realistic couple. And even though I could feel their chemistry were so strong in the air, but still both of them held on their love and respect for their own planet tightly which I liked.

“I feel disloyal for caring about you. You’re my enemy. You’re part of an alien race that has destroyed everything. But I don’t hate you. […] I don’t understand why you care, but I can’t stop myself caring for you, either.”

(Mattie; Chapter XIX, Earth)

And talk something about innocent love for people like Marduke who’s never felt one…

“You can love someone instantly, but being in love with them is different.”

“So I could love you without being in love with you?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“So how much time has to pass before you’re in love with someone?”

“There isn’t an exact time. You just suddenly realise you are in love with them. You acknowledge their faults and love them anyway. You know them inside and out, and you wouldn’t change a thing.”

“I’d never change a thing about you, Mattie; you’re perfect,” I tell her honestly.

(Chapter XIX, Earth)

I liked the side-characters as well. At first, I just couldn’t like how whiny Lisa was but the appearance of Hanks made her attitude bearable somehow. He’s just so gentle and caring for Lisa. And I actually am looking forward to the continuation of their relationship on the next book.

I read this book in two-sessions. First, I read about 10% of the book and left it because of the rather quick-pace of the plot in the beginning (which I told above). But then I finished the rest 90% in one sitting because apparently after the invasion kicked in, I just COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! Seriously. Ms. Frances brought up the invasion as the main topic and she did it awesomely because it’s just so well-built, the invasion, background story of the Oden. They’re all so well-thought. Even me as a romance-sucker ―who’s basically been focusing only on romance side in just every book, this time also felt intrigued by the non-romance part as much as the romance ones.

Invasion and alien were usually two things that easily adopted on fantasy movies. I, myself, never read any fantasy book with this topic before but I could tell that Ms. Frances just brought them in a whole different level. The topic was not original but somehow Ms. Frances’s writing made it look sooo different and nothing at all like the other story ever created. It was epic. It was amazing. I’m curious of what kind of description she’d go with the planet Oden on the next book.

So, yes, people, the book is the part of trilogy so expect a cliffhanger in the end but don’t worry because it’s not a bad cliffhanger or what. Just enough to make you curious but not cruel enough to make you drop your e-reader in frustration ;)

Love, read, and review,

Cynthia D.

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January 10, 2016

Weekend Rec: The Invasion Trilogy by Jessica Frances

April 28, 2015

Book Review: Oden (The Invasion Trilogy, #3) by Jessica Frances

April 19, 2015

Book Review: Roth (The Invasion Trilogy, #2) by Jessica Frances

April 6, 2015

Book Review: Earth (The Invasion Trilogy, #1) by Jessica Frances

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